A goal by the England Under-21 striker Lianne Sanderson was enough to take Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup as they beat Brondby 1-0 in the last of their second-round games in Russia yesterday.

It meant the Gunners finished top of Group Four with a 100% record, having in the previous five days beaten the host club Rossiyanka 5-4 and the Hungarian side Femina Budapest 6-0. They will now face the Icelandic team Breidablik, runners-up in Group One, next month.

"It was important we won the group," said the England striker Kelly Smith. "If we had finished runners-up it would have meant a quarter-final against Frankfurt, who beat us last season and went on to win the competition. So we wanted to avoid them, but we are riding high on confidence right now and I don't see why we can't go all the way."

It is the fifth time in six seasons that Arsenal, now in their 20th year as a women's team, have reached the quarter-finals.

"Our first aim is always to win the Premier League," said Smith, "but deep down everybody really wants to win in Europe - that would be a fantastic way to celebrate our 20th anniversary."

While the Premier League champions and leaders were winning in Europe, second placed Everton, two points behind, lost 2-1 at Doncaster RoversBelles with the England midfielder Vicky Exley hitting the winner.

Third-placed Birmingham City would have gone level on points with Arsenal had they beaten Cardiff City at home. But they were held to a 2-2 draw after twice leading and had Jemma Buttler sent off 13 minutes into the second half.

After a slow start to the season Charlton Athletic moved into the top half of the table with a 3-1 win against Bristol Academy, the England striker Eniola Aluko scoring twice. Her international team-mate, Amanda Barr, hit a hat-trick as Blackburn Rovers collected their first points of the season with a 5-0 win against Sunderland.